Customer Reviews

A Simple Suburban Murder (Tom & Scott Mysteries)

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I've read each and every one of Mark Richard Zubro's Tom and Scott novels, but that says more about the shortage of gay mysteries than it does the talents of the unnervingly prolific Zubro.

In the first of the series we meet highschool teacher Tom Mason and his celebrity ball player lover Scott Carpenter. When these two gorgeous hunks are not working out or having sex, they are solving mysteries--call them The Thin Men. Now I give Zubro this, he can construct a decent, fast-paced mystery. In fact, he is better at plotting a mystery than, for example, the much-revered Michael Nava (whose Henry Rios mysteries wouldn't challenge an eleven-year old Nancy Drew fan). But the writing is awkward, often stiff, and Tom and Scott are as lifeless as the mannequins they so resemble. And that's odd, seeing that Zubro is reasonably deft at sketching minor characters.

A SIMPLE SUBURBAN MURDER is for me one of the strongest entries in the Tom and Scott franchise. The mystery is tightly written, the Chicago local realistically drawn, and it's an appealing premise: gay lovers and partners in crime-solving. A sort of Nick and Nick Charles. If we are grading on the Pass/Fail system, than Zubro easily passes

I found this book to be a bit better than a lot of the books which pigeon-hole themselves into the "gay fiction" genre. One of the other reviewers for this book noted the weakness of the main characters. I totally agree. I was not inspired or engaged in any way by the main character or his lover. That was rather odd considering that I did quite like some of the more minor characters (especially Daphne). One of my main complaints about mysteries is that so very often the plot unfolds by clues and leads simply jumping into the characters' laps. A Simple Suburban Murder is no exception, although I've read books which have been much more unrealistic. I found the plot interesting enough to pull me through the book but the over-the-top political correctness put me off. I liked the ending ok but at this point it's a total toss-up as to whether I will ever read another book by this author or in this series.

Like most mystery readers, I'm always looking for new authors and series. I read this and one of Zubro's later books on the basis of largely positive reviews. Both books disappointed, especially this one. Usually, early books in a series flesh out the characters and do more to establish interest than later volumes. Instead, we get Tom and Scott, their occupations, and Scott's fancy apartment and that's about it. Yes, they cry, they hug, and the star major league baseball pitcher, Scott, always makes a point of saying that they are lovers, but frankly, I got no sense of what brought them together or kept them together. Compared with classic unlikely pairings in other mystery series like Matt Scudder and his call girl girlfriend (Lawrence Block's Scudder books) or Spenser and psychologist Susan Silverman (Robert Parker's Spenser books), these two lack real emotional depth and interest as a couple. There isn't much more to them as individuals, either. The lack of character development wouldn't be so bad if the rest of the book had more depth. Unfortunately, the family triangle that frames the book's murder and its resolution seems as contrived as the characters that are introduced to tell their story. Indeed, many of the minor characters seem like simple plot devices rather than people. Tom and Scott's relationship with the police has little context and the cops are as one dimensional as anyone else. Even Chicago lacks character--Carl Sandburg would be sad to see his city of big shoulders treated so poorly. The whole business is resolved with much melodrama and it is a relief to have it finally end. If you can plow through anything as long as it has gay characters, you might like this one and others in this series. If you're a serious mystery reader, you can probably give it a pass

Zubro writes mysteries more likely to be found in the Gay Literature section of your local bookstore or library ,which is a tad sad ,because they seem to me to have their natural audience in lovers of the more traditional mystery as well as among gay audiences.The gay theme is a crucial part of the plot but at heart this is a traditional whodunnit with a traditional detective double act doing the sleuthing.
Gay High School remedial English teacher Tom Mason discovers the body of a Maths teacher in his classroom -the deceased is Jim Evans who turns out to have been a nasty piece of work .He was an abusive parent ,and treats his wife as a legalised peon ,not to mention being a blackmailer and the sort of man who would stop at nothing for money.He also exchanges sex with students in exchange for pass grades.
Despite warnings from the school administrator Tom and his partner -a promiment baseball palyer Scott Carpenter -dig into the murder .It is a quest that takes them into danger -including Tom's being beaten up and shot at .The solution involves a tour of the gay underground in Chicago and involves snuff movies ,S and M clubs and teenage prostitution before the culprit is uncovered.
The ending is bitter-sweet and there is an appreciation in the book that emotional recovery from crime is not aleays easy and the families of crime victims do not always find it easy to recover from the ordeal . Tom and Scott are somewhat idealised figures-good looking,athletic and popular and are btheweakest parts of the book .There are some well etched supporting figures like the lesbian bar ownwer Daphne and the ultimate bad guy is a strikingly drawn figure with an outwardly plausible excuse for his depridations.
The dialogue is dull and the plotting mechanical but it remains just about readable.

This book is hampered by stilted dialogue, one dimensional characterization, lack of humor, and a cloying adherence to political correctness. One longs for Donald Strachey's wit or Henry Rios's empathetic angst, something that would these characters more believable and identifiable. As it is, they're deadly dull. On top of that, the writing reminds one of a creative writing class reject in need of proofreading (early on, for instance, "homicide" is spelled "homocide" - an unintentional glitch or some copy editor's idea of a joke?) Stick with Nava, Hansen, and Stevenson.

The first in the series. Chicago area high school teacher Tom Mason discovers the body of a colleague in his classroom. To clear the main suspect, a former student, he and his lover, pro baseball player Scott Carpenter, delve into child homosexual prostitution and snuff movies.

Zubro won the Lambda Literary Award in 1989 for best gay mystery for this book.

Neil Plakcy, author of Mahu Surfer: A Hawaiian Mystery (An Alyson Mystery)